Forged through foster care – Ulberg’s path to UFC title shotImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Carlos Ulberg has won 13 of his 14 professional fightsByPaul BattisonBBC Sport JournalistPublished49 minutes agoCarlos Ulberg has visualised winning a UFC title many times – and when he does, his mind goes back to his upbringing.The 35-year-old has lived a diverse life, going from rugby league player to reality TV star to UFC title challenger, but before all that he was a foster child.Ulberg moved between foster homes in New Zealand, living with dozens of different families, between the ages of about four and 13.Ulberg says there were some “good homes” and some “not so good homes”, while other times he would get “beaten up every day” by the other foster children – but the experience shaped him.”That’s what has created me into this space that I am now and it’s a good thing. That’s what’s brought the best out of me,” Ulberg tells BBC Sport.”I grew out of that kind of feel-sorry-for-yourself mentality and started to just push forward, and that’s what built a resilience in me.”At UFC 327 in Miami’s Kaseya Centre on Saturday, Ulberg faces former champion Jiri Prochazka for the vacant light-heavyweight title after Alex Pereira dropped the belt to move up to heavyweight.Ulberg, who is third in the UFC’s light-heavyweight rankings, has earned the opportunity after winning his past nine fights.Ulberg takes a moment to reflect on his journey from growing up in foster homes to challenging for a world title.”The biggest draw for me is being able to go back in time and think ‘wow man’. I’ve always been a world champion in different means of life, this is just a different way of approaching it,” says Ulberg”When I get that belt raised, it’s gonna feel amazing because time will flash at that moment.”When you’re visualising it you just know you’ll be thinking back to the times you had and the stresses – the physical stress, the emotional stress and everything that you’d gone through.”Ulberg describes himself as a “very physical person” who wanted to do “everything sports-wise” growing up.Before fighting, Ulberg reached a semi-professional level playing rugby league, before transitioning to boxing and later MMA.What information do we collect from this quiz?
